Effect of gluten‐free diet on preventing recurrence of gastroesophageal reflux disease–related symptoms in adult celiac patients with nonerosive reflux disease

Abstract

Background and Aim: In Celiac Disease (CD) the role of a gluten-free diet (GFD) on\ud gastroesophageal reflux disease–related symptoms (GERD-rs) is unclear. The aim of this\ud study was to establish the recurrence of GERD-rs, in CD patients with nonerosive reflux\ud disease (NERD).\ud Methods: From a total of 105 adult CD patients observed, 29 who presented with the\ud NERD form were enrolled in the study. Thirty non-CD patients with NERD were studied\ud as controls. Recurrence of GERD-rs was clinically assessed at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months\ud follow-up (FU) after withdrawal of initial proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) treatment for\ud 8 weeks.\ud Results: GERD-rs were resolved in 25 (86.2%) CD patients and in 20 (66.7%) controls\ud after 8 weeks of PPI treatment. In the CD group, recurrence of GERD-rs was found in five\ud cases (20%) at 6 months but in none at 12, 18, and 24 months while in the control group\ud recurrence was found in six of 20 controls (30%), in another six (12/20, 60%), in another\ud three (15/20, 75%), and in another two (17/20, 85%) at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months FU\ud respectively.\ud Conclusions: The present study is the first to have evaluated the effect of a GFD in the\ud nonerosive form of GERD in CD patients, by means of clinical long-term follow-up,\ud suggesting that GFD could be a useful approach in reducing GERD symptoms and in the\ud prevention of recurrence